How marijuana legalization will affect Mexico’s cartels, in charts

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/09/how-marijuana-legalization-will-affect-mexicos-cartels-in-charts/

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They also found that in the worst-case scenario for the drug traffickers, legalization in California would mean Mexican marijuana would retain less than 9 to 15 percent of its original market share in the U.S. But if you factor in smuggling costs, excise taxes and the perceived potency of the product, the market share could remain as high as 33 to 38 percent.



Then there’s the fact that cartels make their money from more than just marijuana — drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines, as well as activities like human smuggling and kidnapping, make up a large chunk of their business models. And they’ve shown a remarkable ability to adapt as market forces and drug policies shift.
With non-drug activities in mind, Stanford University psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys, a former Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, developed a theoretical pie chart breaking down cartels’ likely revenue streams: